Beauty and Babbling.

I was just thinking the other day about my favourite brands and why I like them and why I have an unfavourable view of others to a point where I would not buy their products again.

Recently I was in a situation where I discovered that I was mis-sold a make up accessory, before the point of purchase the sales assistant had declared that it came with a lifetime guarantee but a couple of months later I went to revisit the brand’s counter in another city and I enquired about the offer and whether it applied to any of their other accessories. The lady working at that stand looked bemused and told me she had never heard of such a thing nor had her colleague. Right there and then I felt completely duped and embarrassed.

Like this:

Oh boy, am I excited for this! It has been dubbed the as the dupe for the Lorac Pro Palette which I have read and seen all over the internet, this thing has been raved about to death which has of course piqued my curiosity, though not enough to warrant international shipping considering it is already a hefty $42 (and the possible customs charges.) That’s a lot of commitment for a product I’m just not ready for. Having seen the swatch comparisons this looks pretty much spot on, it’s available in a store near me and it has a more affordable price point! I’ve never tried any of Make Up Revolution’s eyeshadows before so it’d be very interesting to see if it does deliver.

2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer

Concealers have slowly become one of my favourite make up items ever, when I first got into make up I didn’t bother with them because I always assume it was like foundation but in a smaller compact packaging. How wrong was I! So I’ve gone through a fair few concealers some which have been meh and some I was rather impressed with and I can’t wait to try this Maybelline one after hearing so many good things about it, I know it’s not a new release by any means and I haven’t actually seen it stocked in the Boots near me so I’m hoping it hasn’t been discontinued…

3. Liquid Powder Foundations

There are actually two that I’m interested in, the one you see in the photo above, the Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Foundation which comes in what looks like a giant nail polish bottle and the L’oreal’s Nude Magique Eau de Teint, which I did have a quick swipe of on my hand in store, it’s formula is so watery but it dries to a powdery finish and it’s so soft! But I do have reservations about it’s coverage, I don’t think it would be enough for me personally and from what I’ve heard it isn’t really buildable so that’s a bit of a downer, though it is supposed to feel like you have nothing on, maybe when my skin is in better condition I might get it a go.

The Maybelline product is it’s competitor and again I’m really interested in this kind of thin liquid formula, it claims to have a medium to full coverage with an ‘undetectable finish’ which would be amazing if the product lives up to that because I absolute hate feeling like I’m wearing loads of make up.

4. Bourjois Powders

I’ve finally hit pan on my powder so I’m now on the hunt for a new one, I would repurchase the one i had before (L’oreal Nude Magique BB Powder) because it does the job grand, even though the packaging broke on me before it’s completely finished but that’s forgiven cos I have had it for a while now, but I’m in the mood to try something new. I’m not sure whether to go for the Healthy Balance or the Silk Edition powder compact, I do like the look of the Silk Edition though but I am a complete sucker for sleek packaging. Let me know if you’ve tried either, I would love to know what you think of them!

Have you tried any of the products I’ve mentioned? If so what did you think of them? Let me know what’s on your wishlist at the moment too!

This hallmark holiday is almost upon us and your local supermarket is pimping out their displays with flowers, chocolates, stuff toys and really ugly cards. It’s an explosion of pink and red all over. Nothing says love better than OTT visual merchandising, right guys? It’s a bloody insult to women everywhere, but that’s none of my business cos I ain’t no wifey.

It’s 2015, you would think corporate businesses would get a grip on this stereotype of women but then again it is mainly run by bald men in suits so I probably shouldn’t expect much. This post isn’t all about hating ‘the man’ or men in general, trust. I just wanted to give my two cents.

Valentine’s day is nothing, if not a reminder for the single lady or man of how single you are and it’s almost as if society is repelled by your singleness and worst, they look at you with confusion and pity when you tell them you’re perfectly happy as you are, before giving you a nudge to say that ‘Becky is recently single, you know, wink wink’ or declaring that ‘Oh, you’d be a great match for George!’ Which you will then laugh nervously, make a joke and then slowly back away from the love sick couple announcing you really need to get to the checkout before you’re married off.

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This has not been a good week guys, I’ve gained back all the weight I had lost so I am up another 0.8 lbs taking it back to my original starting point. (This may or may not have anything to do with the McRib I had yesterday…) I’m not exactly over the moon about it but hopefully I can lose something this week! Upwards and onwards, right?

DAY #5

“Breakfast” 12:04pm – Cinnamon Porridge with Soya Milk (158 kcal)

I was meant to have this with bananas but I didn’t have any in the house, total bummer. It didn’t seem like a lot of food at all when I made this up and I tried to eat this as slowly as possible to make it seem like there was more to it but I didn’t do a grand job of that either. Though this is surprising holding me up for longer than I had expected.

1:00pm – Tea with Soya Milk (15kcal)

Super Late Lunch 4:55pm – Moroccan Baked Eggs (170 kcal)

I’d be waiting all day for the boiler fixer to come round so that’s one of the reasons why I had an uber ate lunch and I’m finally not living in an igloo anymore! Hurrah. This was actually super tasty, though I didn’t have any ras-el-hanout on hand that the recipe required so I just chucked in a bunch of spices that I thought were kinda close to it, so I used black pepper, cumin, cinnamon and ground coriander. I ate this so quickly — as you can guess since I hadn’t eaten since 12. It was just what I needed to warm myself up and I love a runny yolk all creamy and delish! Though I wished I had chopped the garlic finer. Biting into garlic chunks is not the one.

Dinner– Cod Provençal (247 kcal)

So this is my first time cooking fish and I am strictly following this recipe with military precision because cooking fish makes me nervous even if it is just a fillet. The vegetables weren’t cooked enough for my liking and I wasn’t entirely sure the fish was fully cooked because it wasn’t opaque opaque and it was really soft but I didn’t make me sick so I guess it was actually cooked??! I didn’t finish the dish and there was a lot of left over onion and it just didn’t live up to my expectations. Bah. Disappointed.

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If you came here expecting naked photos of me than you’re going to be sorely disappointed (maybe), and if you came here expecting nude lipstick welllll you may be a lil let down but hear me out! I was having my usual gander at the aisles in Boots when I came across this little ditty, I was on the hunt for a nudey-beigey colour but I’ve never had much luck with the formula or colour match previously until I found this.

It’s a lot browner in real life (it’s so hard to capture it on camera!) and I would describe the colour of the bullet as a mixture of brown and dusty pink. It’s not a colour I’ve chosen before, I bought it on a whim and luckily I absolutely love it! It’s not your typical ‘nude nude’ but it’s a — do I dare say it? ‘my lips but better’ kinda shade (cringe).

The formula is so soft on your lips, it just glides on and for someone who suffers from chronic dry lip this is perf. It has a satiny/creamy finish and for what I consider a ‘light’ colour it really has some staying power! Even when the buttery sheen is worn off there still some of the original colour left on your lips which I like. It was still on after I had eaten! So that’s a sign of a good lipstick right there.

Sure feels like award season here, if only there was a red carpet and we could dress up (who am I kidding I have full blown make up and hair done, ready to be called up to the podium) annnnnywaaaaay, my imagination is getting the better of me. I have been nominated by the lovely Rosh for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award, so thank you lovely!

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Hey guys, so who would of known, I’ve manage to stick it out for another week. WOOP WOOP. Maybe I am just too legit to quit. (Steady on now). In all seriousness though I can report that the previous week of my two day dieting resulted in a loss of two pounds. TWO WHOLE POUNDS. I’m pretty amazed by that but by no surprise it did come back crawling in the form of 0.8 lbs. You lose some and I definitely gained some, so there’s an effective weightloss of 1.2 lbs. Which I guess is not too shabs.

DAY #3

Breakfast 11:30am – Yoghurt with Banana and Pumpkin Seeds (164 kcal)

I learnt my mistake from last weeks dairy mishap, so this week I opted for an soy alternative and to my surprise it actually tastes pretty good, though to be fair I was had really low expectations for it. But it was lovely and yummy (even if it is more cals than the regular). Score.

12:30pm – Tea with Soya Milk (15 kcal)

Lunch 2:00pm – Chicken Salad (205 kcal)

They didn’t define what a ‘small’ chicken breast was so I may have gone over in cals with this dish but whoa-oh, not a lot I can do about it now… This is definitely better than the lunch I had last week. Though I did add Nando’s lemon and herb seasoning to the chicken because I had some lying around, not sure if that will add to the cal content or not, I’m hoping for not. I substituted the normal tomatoes for cherry ones, they are just so much more palatable! Though I did kinda ruin the dish towards the end by an accidental balsamic vinegar spill. Eek. But overall, a success!

Dinner 7:45pm – Chicken and Veg Curry (341 kcal)

If really should read a recipe through and through before I start cooking, I added the yoghurt in too soon (but I feel it tenderised the chicken so it’s not all bad) and forgot to the mix the cornflour mixture into it before tipping into the pan so the sauce never got thick. In my defence I don’t think the recipe is written very clearly but that’s just my POV. Tasted better than I expected for a very soupy curry.

Treat 10:35pm – Hot Chocolate (60 kcal)

My hunger hasn’t actually been too bad today for reasons unknown but my stomach did start to rumble later into the evening and I was desperate for a chocolatey sugar hit.

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As I was scrolling through my twitter feed this morning I came across this comment made by a blogger who was damning other bloggers who just leave ‘one line’ comments, such as “I love x product!” “That x product is amazing!” etc and their url and pretty much outright called it nothing but spam.

I myself have just recently started blogging and one way to get more exposure to your blog is by leaving a link after your message in the comments section of other blogger’s posts. I often do check out other people’s blogs that way too. I am probably guilty of leaving a few comments like that but for the majority of the time I do take the time out and read what they’ve written and I try to leave an engaging comment. I think it’s just mean to shut someone down that way, accusing them of spamming, I’m sure you had to do a similar tactic to build your readership at some point.

Maybe if you’re in the 10,000s of followers or whatever it may be annoying but shouldn’t you stop and think, wow, I have people who are interested in my blog and what I write about! To me I was amazed anyone would even see my blog, the first time I got a like on a post I was so chuffed with myself! Of course likes and views are not the sole reason why I started writing but it definitely has given me a boost of confidence to continue.

I’m not naive enough to think sure, every single ‘like’ I received has come from someone who has read the entire article and genuinely liked it, I know how lengthy some of my posts are and let’s face it most of us suffer from a little impatience. I know it’s another tactic of getting someone to check out your blog. However, there are ways of asking politely and then there is the blunt straight to the point comments. I definitely do not appreciate ‘f4f’ route, though I’m sure it has worked wonders for many people, I personally see it as nothing but a seedy back alley trade, though I will follow back if I genuinely like your blog.

The person who has taken time out to leave a comment (even if it is 1 minute of their day) to leave a message on your post, there is no force in the world that makes you obliged to click it. Absolutely none. There is simply no reason for you to lose your rag over something like that. Honestly, can we not just be chill and get along guys?

I love peaking into people’s make up bags, it’s the nosy neighbour in me that can’t resist a snoop so I thought I’d share what’s in my essential travelling make up bag in return. The things in there are my absolute can’t-do-withouts and it’s what I would say is my ‘everyday’ type of look. The products are carefully selected for not only it’s purpose but weight and size counts here too. No heffers in here mam. The last thing you need when you’re travelling to a friend’s/cousin’s/down low lover’s/boyfriend’s house is extra weight to lug around, nobody has time for that. I’m ashamed to admit that I have all my make up divided up into 3 massive separate bags; face, eyes and lips. I had just realised the sheer amount of stuff I have BUT I can condense it all into a small bag, it’s 19cm x 11cm, if y’all interested.

I just want firstly thank Sophie from Beauty’s Bug for nominating me! I’m so flattered that people seem to like my blog! Seriously, I’m grateful for every reader I get and I hope to continue with this for as long as I can.

Here are the rules:
– Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog
– Answer the questions given by the nominator
– Nominate 11 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers and link them
– Notify all the bloggers you nominate
– Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer

Update; whilst I was drafting this post up Hannah of Hanniemc had nominated me for the award too, which has definitely made my morning, thank you! I will be answering selected questions from both ladies.

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Hello there

I'm Laura, 23, living in Nottingham and I'm something of a make up magpie and skincare hoarder. Owning Your Okayness is a blog based around those obsessions as well as ad hoc musings of my personal life. I aim to entertain and inform with my writing. If you want to find out more about me you can follow me on